Explore Ba The Mountain

Son Tien Pagoda stands tall on top of Ba The Mountain.

Contains mysterious legends

One weekend, having the opportunity to wander around the "antique land" of Oc Eo, from the foot of the mountain, we followed the concrete road all the way to the top of Ba The. Having left early in the morning, the top of this mountain was deserted, occasionally encountering a few tourist vehicles going downhill. After a few dozen minutes, the motorbike ran heavily to the top. Lost in the Son Tien Tu, the space here was very peaceful and quiet. This pagoda stood tall between the sky and the earth, catching the cool clouds. Sitting on a stone bench, breathing in the fresh air, I felt my soul at ease. In front of the pagoda is a statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, with a gentle face as if reminding all living beings to turn towards compassion and charity. From the top of the mountain, looking down at the lush green rice fields under the golden sunlight, it was like a picture of a prosperous countryside.

In the distance is the sea of Ha Tien and Ba Hon ( Kien Giang province). According to archaeologists, in the past, Ba The land was a sea. Due to the changes of nature over time, the sea has "stepped back" to give way to the mainland and mountains until now. To the southwest is the majestic That Son range. A person doing volunteer work at Son Tien Tu said that this pagoda was presided over by Venerable Thich Bao Sieu. Previously, Son Tien Pagoda (San Tien, Chan Tien) was established by Venerable Thich Hue Sanh for hermitage. At that time, this place was just a thatched hut built by Venerable Hue Sanh with great effort. Later, a road was built to the top, the pagoda carried water and bought construction materials to restore and embellish the spacious pagoda.

Walking around in front of Son Tien Pagoda, we also saw a few four-sided towers, this is a unique architectural style remaining from the Oc Eo culture. Next to Son Tien Pagoda, there is a large stone that looks like it was brought here by a supernatural being. Next to the stone, there is a staircase for visitors to easily climb up and admire the scenery. Strangely, on the surface of the stone there is a deep indentation that has been engraved for centuries, looking like a left foot, which people often call "Fairy Foot". Every time they visit Son Tien Pagoda, many visitors climb up the stone to try their left foot. When asked about the legend of this footprint, most people say that perhaps at the beginning of the world, fairies came here to play and then stepped on the stone, leaving it for thousands of years.

The mountain is often struck by lightning when it rains.

Ba The mountain is still quite wild, sad, and contains many old stories and legends. Continuing to circle the mountain, we came to Chon Thien cave and met a layman who was practicing at this spiritual place, sitting and chatting with tourists. Looking up, there was a giant rock weighing hundreds of tons resting on a large rock, forming a large cave. This layman said that in the past, in the mountain cave, there was a nun from another province who came here to practice in seclusion for more than 10 years and then passed away. After that, he took over, burned incense and practiced until now. On big full moon days, holidays, and Tet in the year, there are quite a lot of tourists coming here to visit.

When asked about the legend of Ba The mountain, many people say that in the past, there was a man who went to the mountain to practice. Because his worldly thoughts had not yet been cleared, every afternoon he went to the top of the mountain and looked far away, missing his three wives. When he died, he turned into stone and became the Vong The rock, which was later named Ba The mountain by the locals. Continuing on, he came across a large rock lying close to the path up the mountain, which the locals called "Mr. Dia's belly". Continuing on through the crossroads towards the top of Ong Ta, the first thing he saw was a giant stone knife built by the locals, with a dome to protect him from the rain and sun. The locals gave it the same name as in the swordplay movie: "Thach Dai Dao".

Local people said that when it rained and there were big storms, thunder and lightning often appeared on the mountain top. Some people said that in ancient times, Ba The mountain had a lot of iron mixed in the rocks, so when it rained, the top of Ba The mountain was struck by lightning in many places. Therefore, few people dared to go up the mountain during rain and storms. Later, people discovered a rock that was split into pieces like a knife. Seeing this, the residents erected it to worship. However, after that, it rained, the knife continued to be struck by lightning, the locals were so scared that they used a lever to push it down the cliff. Later, when nature was less harsh, people used a pulley to pull the Stone Knife up to the top of the mountain and built a temple to worship...

Now, Ba The mountain looks like a landscape painting, reminiscent of the nostalgic times of the "founding of mountains and breaking rocks". Standing on the top of the mountain, looking into the distance, visitors seem to forget the worries of life, their souls become deeper...

Ba The Mountain is also known as Vong The Mountain or Hoa The Mountain. This is a mountain in the Ba The mountain cluster, including 5 mountains in Thoai Son district, which are: Ba The, Nho Mountain, Tuong Mountain, Troi Mountain and Choc Mountain. Ba The Mountain is 221m high, with a circumference of about 4,220m.

, located alone in the middle of the Long Xuyen Quadrangle field, in Oc Eo town, about 40km from Long Xuyen city center along Provincial Road 943.

LUU MY

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/kham-pha-nui-ba-the-a423040.html